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A few days ago I posted about CFLs. Of course I started to get curious... I have a bunch of CFLs in our house already (bathrooms, and ceiling fixtures) but I have a lot of Floodlights (Incandescent and Halogen) throughout the house.

I wasn't pleased with the color of all the CFLs that I had and I would like a lower wattage solution for our 15 recessed cans that currently are dimmable with 65watt floodlights. I also wasn't happy with the CFLs I had in my home office, they were too yellow.

I did find a great non CFL solution that saves energy for my recessed cans, see the end of the post for that info.

Also, since CFLs have mercury, you need to take care when recycling them. I found out that you can take CFLs to IKEA for free recycling. You can also order a Recycling Kit from Sylvania for $15 which includes return shipping via FedEx.

Well, I tested the following spiral 13w (60w equivalent) CFLs for the ceiling fixtures, bathroom lights etc.

• Sylvania Soft White (sold at Lowes)
• GE General Purpose Soft White (sold at Target)
• Philips Duramax (sold at Costco)
• Commercial Electric (originally sold at Home Depot)
• n:vision Soft White (sold at Home Depot)
• n:vision Bright White (sold at Home Depot)
• n:vision Daylight (sold at Home Depot)

The bottom line is that there are a few big differences between all these brands:

• instant on (some CFLs have a second delay before they start)
• warm up time
• color temperature

Popular Mechanics does a great write up on a bunch of brands, some covered above and some not. They highly rate the n:vision soft white that I also liked.

So you know, the color temperature of a standard incandescent bulb is about 2700k. The higher the number the "cooler" the light. Most folks will be used to this color temperature which can be described as yellow. Daylight for example is around 6500k. Halogen lights are a bit cooler than incandescent. Around 3200k.

Halogen–Superior Incandescent Technology
Tungsten halogen lamps are a refinement of incandescent technology that offer up to 20 percent greater energy efficiency, longer service life and improved light quality...

Whiter, Brighter Light
Halogen lamps have higher color temperatures than standard incandescent lamps—their light output contains more blue and green. Halogen lamps therefore appear whiter and brighter. Although both types of lamp essentially have a CRI of 100, the higher color temperature of halogen lamps provides more pleasing and vibrant color rendition across a wider range of colors.

Personally I've always liked the color temperature of halogen lamps.

My Testing Results

So, here is what I think of the CFLs that I've tried.

Sylvania Soft White

• no instant on
• color temperature is about 3000k
• I found the color to be a bit industrial looking
• grade: B

GE General Purpose Soft White

• no instant on
• color temperature is about 2700k
• color was a bit yellowish but acceptable
• grade: B+

Philips Duramax

• instant on
• color temperature is about 2700k
• color was a bit yellowish but acceptable
• grade: A-

Commercial Electric

• instant on
• color temperature is about 2700k
• color too yellowish
• grade: B

n:vision Soft White

• instant on
• color temperature is a bit cooler than 2700k
• color was just right (a bit whiter than incandescent). Nice for general purpose, hallways, sconces etc.
• grade: A

n:vision Bright White

• instant on
• color temperature cooler, 3500k
• color is bright white . Nice for a bathroom or office.
• grade: A

n:vision Daylight

• instant on
• color temperature cooler, 5500k
• color is bluish white. Not sure where I'd use a light like this. Looked very weird to me. Maybe in a garage? Hanselman likes these, I have no idea why.
• grade: n/a

So I've basically settled on the n:vision soft white (for general lighting) and bright white (for bathrooms and workspaces). They are also cheap, sold in packs of 4 for $9. I like that they have instant on and the color temperature is whiter than an incandescent (more like a halogen). Unfortunately, these "green" bulbs come in that horrible plastic blister packs, which probably negates some amount of the environmental friendliness of the bulbs. WTF n:vision? Use cardboard packaging.

For a crazy amount of info on CFLs see Don Klipstein's page.

So what about all the dimmable cans that I have? Well it turns our that Philips released a new line of bulbs that are more energy efficient than a standard halogen called Halogena Energy Saver.

Philips Halogena Energy Saver

Philips managed to take a 40w bulb and get it to output the equivalent of 65w of light. They also have a 70w bulb that outputs 100w of light. These lights are carried in a variety of shapes and sizes and one of them is a BR30 for recessed cans.

Philips calls the technology used to get this increased efficiency, EcoBoost.

More light, less heat

The EcoBoost technology is based upon optimizing heat management of the integrated electronics and burner. On the burner, a special compound conducts away the heat, keeping it cooler and ensuring that more electricity is converted into light. Another resulting benefit is that the burner is less likely to break, which lengthens the lifespan.

These lamps are currently sold at Home Depot and cost about $9 for a single BR30 or $9 for two standard bulbs.

I replaced 5 can lights with these and can't be happier. They are not CFLs but they will get me a 39% improvement in power usage vs a CFLs 79%. If I replace all my recessed cans then:

This seems like a great way to:

• Save $7 a month
• Maintain Dimmers
• Continue to have Instant On

If I moved to CFLs I'd see savings of another $7 a month but have to sacrifice lighting features.

Oh, and the Energy Saver Halogena bulbs have NO MERCURY.

Hope this is useful to some one... of course some of this is obviously subjective.